One Sleepless Night
by invisibleCheshire
Summary: James can't sleep, so he wanders down to the Gryffindor common room, and who does he find, but the girl he's been lusting over for 6 years. Lily and James fluff. One shot.


Author's Note: I don't own _Harry Potter_ and the character's aren't mine. Thanks for reading.

James couldn't sleep. He had been turning this way and that in his four-poster bed for the past three hours. It happened every night; he would go to bed with Lupin, Peter, and, of course, Sirius, but every night, long after the others had fallen into slumber, he would spend hours tossing around trying desperately to fall asleep. Despite have put up with months of dreadful insomnia, James was still not used to these disturbed nights, and something about this one in particular seemed especially awful. He threw one foot, then the other out of the bed and stood up. The incessant floorboards creaked loudly under his weight, but James couldn't care less about waking his sleeping friends. He made his way down toward the common room, the cool ground chilling his bare, callous feet as he walked. The dark common room seemed strangely barren to James, who was used to seeing it filled with the lively and bold Gryffindor students. It seemed strangely isolated at the moment, and he didn't like the way the light from the moon entered the area through the window making the furniture cast long, unnerving shadows across the room.

James stood at the foot of the steps peering around the common room. His skimpy night suit wasn't warm enough in the cold of winter, and he shivered as goosebumps dotted his skin and his toes curled in the frost temperature. Suddenly, James spotted something on the old sofa… or was it someone? He walked through the shadows pushing them carefully aside until he got to the sofa. When he saw the sleeping body lying on the sofa, his heart jumped in his chest and his breath got caught as he stared. Lily Evans was deep in her slumber on the couch. Lily Evans, his one love and the girl James had been losing sleep over was laying fast asleep right in front of him. Her beautiful, big, green eyes were hid behind her closed eyelids and long, red lashes. Her straight hair fell around her heart-shaped face and matched the vibrant, striking colour of her eyelashes. She clutched a book in both arms to her chest. The handsome boy could not help but reach a single trembling hand out to graze her closest cheek. The pale skin of her cheek felt warm and smooth under his fingertips. Slowly, he moved his fingers toward her full, rosy lips and traced them with his finger.

He was so engrossed in her presence that James didn't even notice when her eyes opened, and the green of her irises shone through. Young Lily Evans felt his gentle fingers warm her skin and send electrifying tingles up and down her spine. Suddenly, as if realizing for the first time what he was doing, James pulled his fingers back in surprise and began to scold himself. "James, you idiot!" He whispered, as if the silence were ice and even one heavy step would send him falling straight through the delicate surface into the freezing cold and treacherous waters. James slumped down on the couch opposite Lily, who watched the unsettled boy for all she was worth. He, however seemed to be done with his self-reprimanding, for he sat completely silent on the ratty sofa. Then, after the long pause he wondered, "Why her?" He paused again. "Why the one girl in the whole school who won't even give me a chance?"

"The _only_ girl?" Asked Lily bemused making James jump out of his slouched position. "And who said I won't give you a chance if you ask nicely. The problem is, James, you never do. It's always these wild romantic gestures and jokes with you. Did you ever think that maybe if you were a little more serious and little less extravagant about it that I _might _actually give you a chance? "

"How—how long have you been awake?" The shell shocked boy stuttered, but Lily only grinned making James pale over with just the tips of his ears bright red.

"As I was saying," Lily continued "Treat me like a person, not an object to be won over. Ask me nicely. Alone. Not in front of all your friends. No jokes. No sexist nick names. No showing off your masculinity. Just ask me. And you might be surprised. " The colour started to return to the Potter boy's face as he ventured, "Lily Evans?" while standing up as if to move toward Lily "would you like to go on a date with me?" Now it was Lily's turn. She stood up and met his shoulder with one hands and the side of his face with the other slowly pressing her cheek against his as she did so. Then she whispered into his ear, her breath tickling the nape of his neck as she did so. "I'll give you a chance." And James was so elated he did the only thing he could think to do, which was moving his face so their lips now touching and kiss her with every ounce of himself. When they pulled apart at last, James no longer felt the weight of tiredness from his countless sleepless nights. Instead of going up to his dorm where he knew he would sleep peacefully, he said to Lily, "Come on. I want to show you something. You won't be disappointed." And Lily without a second thought said "yes." She had been ignoring her feelings for James for too long. She didn't know why they decided to emerge tonight, but they had, and they could not be suppressed. So, James and Lily bounded, as quietly as two lovesick mice, past the Fat Lady and down countless flights of stairs all the way to the magnificent wooden doors of the Great Hall. Lily looked at James skeptically and whispered, "James, I've seen the Great Hall thousands of times. It's not something you have to show me." But James quieted Lily with a gentle finger to her lips, which perhaps lingered there just a moment too long, and opened those massive doors with his other hand. He then led Lily right into the center of the hall and lay down. Moments later, he felt Lily's warm and smooth skin brush against his own—a signal that she had joined him on the ground. And there they lay, staring up at the beautiful stars of the enchanted ceiling and simply gazing. They enjoyed each other's presence then, more than ever before, and they enjoyed the silence too, something that was unusual for James, although not as unusual for Lily. The stars completely engulfed them, and were so expansive, that they made James feel vulnerable, but he didn't mind feeling vulnerable in Lily's presence. In fact, he wanted to feel vulnerable around, to completely give himself up to her, and he had never wanted anything more. Everything but Lily, himself, and the stars seemed to melt away as if there was nothing else in the world, and to James there really wasn't. But alas, the both Lily and James seemed to understand that the show of dancing, dazzling, dumbfounding stars could not go on forever, and silently, as if they could share thoughts, the two slowly stood up and began the journey back to the common room, knowing that they had shared a memory.

So, James and Lily returned to their respective dorms. And, for the first time in months, James was able to drift in to happy and peaceful sleep the sensation of the kiss still lingering on his lips, and the Lily's words running through his system repeating themselves over and over and over. "I'll give you a chance, I'll give you a chance, I'll give you a chance…"


End file.
